Integrated circuits, in particular fast digital interface circuits/interfaces are often subjected to one or more production tests as early as during the production method, in which production test or production tests test patterns are applied to the integrated circuit and the data stream generated by the integrated circuit in a manner dependent on said test patterns is examined.
Production tests in which faulty integrated circuits can be reliably discovered and sorted out in good time have a comparatively long duration and require a high complexity.
In customary production tests, in which the data streams are compressed or compacted for time and cost reasons, it is often not possible for faulty integrated circuits to be ascertained as early as during a production test, so that faulty integrated circuits often pass through even further manufacturing stations before being identified as faulty. If faulty integrated circuits are not identified during the production test or production tests, but only at a later point in time in the production method, high costs arise e.g., due to the reduced production yield.
If a faulty circuit has been identified with production tests operating with compressed or compacted data streams, it is still not possible to make a statement about which location or which region caused this error. This has to be detected by sorting out the faulty circuit and by means of a separate test run.